New Delhi: Budget carrier IndiGo Airlines announced on Sunday that its A320 Neo aircraft that operated on the Delhi-Srinagar route earlier in the day was temporarily grounded at Srinagar following detection of a hydraulic leak in an engine.

Representational image. Reuters

The airline, in a statement, said the defect has been rectified and the aircraft is now fit to fly.

"An A320 Neo aircraft that operated Delhi-Srinagar was cleared after maintenance checks upon arrival at Srinagar airport. However, during engine start, the pilot-in-command observed a hydraulic (not oil) leakage from engine 2.

"The aircraft was immediately withdrawn to investigate the hydraulic leak. The issue has been rectified and the aircraft is now fit to fly," it said.

IndiGo earlier announced that its A320 Neo aircraft that operated on the Bengaluru-Delhi route on Sunday was withdrawn in Delhi for a maintenance check to attend to a reported defect.

"During the maintenance check, metal chips were observed on 1 Engine, 3 Bearing Chip detector, which is a known concern on the Neo engine," a statement said.

Meanwhile, IndiGo and GoAir cancelled 48 flights on Wednesday as almost a third of their A320 Neo aircraft fleet remained grounded for the third day following a safety directive by the aviation regulator DGCA. Of these flights, 42 are of IndiGo and six belong to GoAir.

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